Generative AI (GenAI) [1] caused a momentous shift in the enterprise AI
platform market in early 2023. During the spring of 2023, all major
cloud-based enterprise AI platform providers scrambled to launch their
own large language models and services and offer tools to support the
deployment of GenAI on their platforms. Almost overnight, AI platform
providers pivoted their priorities from offering tools that facilitate
data management, query data across repositories, streamline
collaboration and version control, and assist with model management and
monitoring to supplying tools that help customers incorporate generative
AI into their applications, says GlobalData [2], a leading data and
analytics company.
Rena Bhattacharyya, Chief Analyst and Practice Lead, Enterprise
Technology & Services at GlobalData, says: “Enterprises should plan
for future use of GenAI while selecting an AI platform provider. Buyers
should consider an AI platform’s capacity to incorporate large
language models and customize foundational models from multiple vendors
since it is still early days, and it is yet to be seen whether some
models will perform better for certain workloads than others.”
GlobalData’s latest report, Cloud-based Enterprise AI Platforms:
Competitive Landscape Assessment, points out that building, training,
tuning, and managing an AI model is a complex undertaking and
enterprises interested in expanding their use of AI can select from many
potential partners. However, though several competitors provide AI
platforms, capabilities vary greatly, and differentiation often comes
from the complementary services that a vendor provides.
Bhattacharyya observes: “Each organization will have its own unique
requirements for deploying and scaling AI projects. Platform buying
criteria include the availability of APIs, machine learning platform
tools, generative AI capabilities, horizontal and industry-specific
solutions, explainable and responsible AI considerations, and
professional services for complex implementations.”
The reports finds that IBM [3] is a leader in the AI platform market,
followed closely by Microsoft [4], Amazon [5], and Google [6].
Salesforce [7] is a niche player, offering numerous operationalized
solutions designed to help enterprises glean actionable insights from
data to improve the customer experience and sales process.
Bhattacharyya concludes: “Microsoft differentiated itself as a thought
leader among the hyperscale cloud providers by being first to market
with access to GenAI. However, IBM stands out as a leader in cloud-based
enterprise AI platforms, offering a full suite of model development and
management tools, access to internally developed and third-party large
language models, industry-specific solutions, and strong professional
services to help customers identify and implement use cases. Salesforce
has been fast to market with CRM solutions that leverage generative AI,
and as a result, has had to educate the enterprise community on best
practices for Responsible AI.”
